Big Knocks for Big Serie A Signings

Two of the biggest surprises in this summer’s transfer window, for me, had to be the move of Munich’s Mario Gomez to Fiorentina and Madrid’s Kaka back to his old club AC Milan. Two moves that are drastically different in significance to the team, but moves that were overshadowed by Gareth Bale and the “will he, won’t he” that always surrounds CR7 (and, to a lesser extent, Luis Suarez), these players would have been hoping for big impacts and they would have definitely been hoping to justify their price tag quickly.

However, both Gomez and Kaka now find themselves on the sidelines for at least a month as they have both picked up injuries early in the season. Gomez seems to have picked up a knee injury and Kaka is rumored to have an abductor problem. Where Kaka will be missing about four weeks, Gomez may end up being sidelined until the end of Novemeber. After losing Jovetic to Manchester City, Fiorentina would have been hoping for Gomez to have settled in with the club and helped them maintain their push for the top four.

Kaka’s absence seems less likely to truly affect Milan, but the player would have been hoping to have become a main factor in the Milan squad. One of the biggest sub-plots for Kaka is that he is not going to be accepting his weekly salary while he is sidelined by his injury. The squad is already injury plagued in the attacking half of the field and it would have been a prime opportunity for Kaka to justify his move back to Milan. After missing so much time with Madrid, Kaka and those around him will see another few weeks away from first-team action as another negative aspect for his future playing time.

Both Gomez and Kaka do not have time on their side as Gomez is 28 and Kaka is 31, plus Gomez dealing with a major knee injury will be one of the last things an older player would want to deal with. A look across the pond at how some players have fared after major leg injuries late in their career makes me think about how in-out Steven Gerrard has been over the last few seasons. Although the Liverpool skipper looks great now, dealing with leg injuries to some of the major problem areas for professional soccer players rarely end well for the player. Scary few weeks upcoming for Firorentina management and anyone associated with the club…here’s hoping a speedy recovery for Gomez.

It is certainly the scariest aspect of the transfer window considering that a big money signing might spend more time on the sidelines than starting. That’s probably why injured players are rarely making the rounds during transfer windows…who knows. We here at the Center Circle are hoping that Kaka and Gomez come back stronger than ever, but we definitely will be keeping an eye on the situation.

About the author: Andrew McCole

If I may be so bold to condense my immense personality into two words, it would be: soccer nerd. I love everything about the beautiful game and I tend to reflect that in my writing. I suffer through Liverpool fandom and hope that they will win another title before my wife spreads my ashes at Anfield (considering I'm in my twenties, it seems somewhat likely). Although I also dabble in tennis, teaching, and coaching, most of my free-time is spent writing articles for The Center Circle! Feel free to stalk me on Google+